meadowlarklogs | ARRIVAL LOG 012

Entry tags:

ARRIVAL LOG 012

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: A research outpost not far from New Amsterdam proper
WHEN: November 22
WHAT: The twelfth arrival
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Body horror, general horror, experimentation on animals and humans, violence, etc.

> ARRIVAL LOG #012

Awareness comes to you in blurred snatches, cloudy fragments of sound and light, color, sensation. Hazy and difficult to grasp on to, but slowly aligning into focus. A series of regular, rhythmic beeps. A medicinal, astringent smell. Murmuring voices saying indistinguishable words. There's fleeting memories of something else, too: an accident, and the pain that followed. Chaos, the echoing noise of gunshots overhead, and the cold sensation of your body going into shock. None of it can be grasped onto in any detail, the flashes of memory more like a fading dream than any real recollection.

When you fully awaken, you'll find your movements to be weighed down and heavy, your body struggling to respond the way that you want it to. Your hair is grown out, perhaps even past its usual length, but not maintained in any way, and you're wearing a hospital gown. The room around you is small and sparsely furnished. There's a bed, the one you woke on, along with a desk pushed against the adjacent wall, but no other distinguishing features. It feels, somehow, that you have been here for a while -- even if you can't put any of the memories together.

As soon as you leave the room, you'll find that your sense of something being very wrong is proven correct. You exit into a dark hallway. There are other doors lining said halls, most of them leading into rooms similar to the one you just left. The area you're in seems to be some sort of dormitory wing, intended for the people who work here, though for now none of those people can be found. Sometimes lights will flicker up and down the maze of halls, but the facility remains dark, and for the most part, quiet. Is it the middle of the night, or is this place completely abandoned? Soon enough you'll come across others like you: wearing only a hospital gown, confused, lost, barefoot.

Unfortunately, it turns out that you're not the only ones here. There's a loud blaring noise that rings through the halls, and somewhere in the facility, a door is unlocked and the proverbial floodgates are opened. At first it won't be clear what happened, but then you'll hear them: scrabbling claws, guttural growls, the thundering approach of creatures that want nothing more than to feed.

They might round a dark hallway and leap, claws extended, or burst out of the vents to wrap around you, fangs ready to sink in. They're twisted, grotesque creatures, but one thing that all of them have in common is their golden glow and eyes. It will take smarts, strength, or speed to survive. Killing them is an option, but without any weapons or your usual powers, it might not be as simple of a task as it once was. Running and hiding is an option, too. There is a new power you've been granted — maybe the stress of the situation will allow you to discover it sooner rather than later. Or maybe with enough teamwork, you can all find a way out.

But don't worry: help is on the way.

> INTO THE WOODS

Instead of the usual head's up from El, the Displaced receive a very different kind of message to tell them of a batch of newcomers who need their assistance:

@100342
Well, well, well, I'll save the trivial "nice to see you again" for later, as it's time to put yourselves together and go. Funny story, a bunch of your pals have been located somewhere outside the city. I know what you're going to ask: How do I know? Let's just say I have some access to points that usually lay beneath the radar to keep it friendly.
Since I was feeling generous, I left you a gift to bring them back. The best part is that you don't have to drive, the worst part is that if you miss it, it'll be gone and you'll be SOL.
Don't be late, or there won't be much to salvage.

Along with the message, all of the Displaced will receive a GPS pin and a warning that they're on the clock. They'll need to reach their destination before 1900 hours or they'll be left behind, and when they arrive at the place in question, they'll see why. It's a boarded-up entrance to a subway station, one that seems to have been out of commission for some time now. Once they break their way in and walk down the stairs into the abandoned station, they'll find that there's a train waiting for them.

How did it get here when most of the public transit is still down? How is it functional? Why hasn't anyone noticed this on a map before? Who knows, but the Displaced will be able to board, and as soon as it hits 1900 hours the train will shudder into movement. There are no announcements to let them know where it's going, so they'll simply have to wait it out.

As it turns out, the train takes them all the way out of the city. When it reaches the city gates, it's let through with no incident, and then it continues on its journey, winding a path through the wooded area that at least a few of the Displaced have explored before. When it finally comes to a stop about an hour and a half later, they'll be let off at an outpost. They're miles out of the city now, too far to easily walk back, and before them lies an unmarked building. On top of that, the train keeps going without them. For the moment, everyone's stranded.

They'll be able to get inside the building with little trouble, as it's from this research outpost that the new set of Displaced will need to be collected. By the time that they arrive it's late into the night so it might not be surprising that the place feels abandoned, but it won't take long to realize there's a commotion. A pack of genetically altered animals have been unleashed on the Displaced who woke up here, so they'll need to help everyone get out in one piece and then figure out a way back to the city.

Some notes about the research lab and these monsters:

◉ The building is six stories tall. The first floor has a lobby/waiting area, a cafeteria, and some office spaces. The second floor is the dormitory floor, which is where the employees would usually sleep if they chose to stay at the facility while working rather than returning to the city in between shifts. This is where the new arrivals woke up. Floors three through five are dedicated to lab spaces, which is where the actual research work is usually done. Most of these laboratories are going to be locked, but that won't stop Displaced from breaking into them if they want. Some of the lab rooms also have exam rooms, rooms with gurneys, stacked and locked cages (some even holding sedated monsters), and other evidence that both people and animals were being experimented on here. Displaced will be able to swipe lab equipment and medical supplies, such as syringes, vials/beakers, first aid supplies, scalpels, bandages, multi-lens microscopes, etc. The top floor is dedicated to offices for higher-ranked scientists, so think of it as the C suite. All floors also have bathrooms, of course, and the dormitory wing also has showers.

There are also a few rooms which might be of interest to the Displaced. These will all be locked tight and will have to be opened through brute force, as they won't respond to any of the Displaced's implants. Of course, a locked door doesn't always mean that there's no way through, especially for this bunch — breaking the locking mechanism, brute force, or even finding a control mechanism are some ways the Displaced can get inside. As for what's beyond these doors:

◈ An operating room. It's clean and emptied out, but the consoles, surgical tools, and lighting make it obvious that surgeries are performed here.
◈ A room that holds in-progress experimental subjects. Some of the animals look almost normal, while others are further along in their mutations, but all of them are sedated and either held suspended in fluid pods or kept in cages. It's possible they could be woken up with enough effort, but why would you?
◈ A morgue. This is where all of the discarded animals and yes, even scientists are kept. It's essentially a dumping ground for failed experiments. The corpses are in sliding drawers as you would expect from any morgue, but opening these drawers will reveal disturbing monstrosities. Some of them are humans, but only barely recognizable given that they've been ripped limb from limb. Others are various animals twisted into impossible positions, or with added appendages/defects. These are experiments where the mutations didn't enhance them, but made it so they could no longer survive.

◉ The monsters who are attacking have the same golden glow and eyes that some of the Displaced have already seen, but they are not the same ones. They look like different kinds of animals that have been spliced with monster DNA, and that DNA has warped them into different forms. Here are a few examples of the monsters, though you are also welcome to come up with other types based off of what we've already outlined:

◈ A large snake, except that it also has four small legs (two near the front of its body, two near the back) which allow it to skitter around rather than slither, making it much faster than any snake has a right to be. It's large and strong enough to strangle its victim, making it difficult to remove by a single person. Don't let it unhinge its jaw, it's got way too many teeth.
◈ A hyena-creature with impressive amounts of agility, due to the fact that it seems like almost all of its joints are double-jointed. It can turn its head almost completely around as well, making it an extremely skilled hunter. Its fangs protrude from the top of its mouth in rows of three like a shark. Even if it's disemboweled or it loses a limb, this creature will still continue to attack in a frenzy.
◈ A stag beetle, except that it's the size of a medium-sized dog. It's still able to fly and its pincers can do damage if it's allowed to get too close. Worse than that, they tend to move in swarms of three or four. Beneath the hard shell are human-like eyes with dilated pupils that follow shadows and light.
◈ A humanoid creature that stands on two legs. Its eyes glow in the dark, catching bits of light from a distance. Upon closer inspection, the creature has snake-scale skin, a long, flickering tail, and claws for hands. These scales are incandescent in nature, shimmering whenever they're underneath enough light.
◈ A sloth-like mimic that cries from a distance for help from hidden, high places. Once it hears a voice, it can mimic it, drawing someone in toward it due to it sounding like another Displaced. Getting too close will leave them within reach of the creature that's all arms and little else, leaving a toxic and poisonous trap to weaken its prey. Its hiding places include the rafters, where it may drop on those looking for their friends. Under certain lights, the slothly creature's eyes are humanoid in appearance, sharp and aware — yet still gold.
◈ Humanoid creatures that give off a thick, putrid smell of decay. Not unlike zombies, they move sluggishly, but upon closer inspection, it appears that something is off about these people. They have claws, sharp rows of teeth, and skin that flakes off with every shuffle of their feet. Potentially some early or later stage experiment of the snake-skinned humanoids. They're highly aggressive and will follow someone with the intention of attacking until they're incapacitated.
◈ A cross-breed insect that looks like a mix of a wasp and a mosquito, but is only the size of a dime. Its sting can draw out a large amount of blood, sedating the individual. The toxin that they inject will leave large, red welts, depending on the efficiency of the immune system. They're blotchy and painful. Once they have found a target, they will swarm around that individual all at once.
◈ A naked creature resembling a dog with a reptile's body, with patches of hair. This creature has long rows of crooked fangs protruding from its lips, mouth and tongue, with a large, dilated eye. It has sharp scales on its back to keep it from being touched, but it has a thirst for blood. This creature will attempt to surprise its prey from around corners, jumping onto someone's shoulders with hopes of sticking to them and drawing blood like a reptilian tick.

◉ These monsters will move through the vents in the building and up and down the stairwells, but they can be killed like any other creature. Or hidden from, if you want to go cry in a bathroom stall or something.

Once the newbies have been collected and taken outside, the Displaced will have to decide if they want to try and get back to New Amsterdam on foot or wait to see if a train arrives back at the stop. The train will return 24 hours after it originally dropped the Displaced off to return everyone to the city, though they won't get any indication of that other than a cryptic hint from Cassius.

Have fun camping, hiking, waiting it out in the building barricaded somewhere, or whatever else you decide to do!

A final note for characters who have been in Meadowlark from the first arrival log (Bobbi Morse, Clarke Griffin, Kylo Ren, Loki, Ojiro Sniper, Rey, Stephen Strange): You are free to have your character recognize any of the newcomers as having been on the bus crash during that first log, if you want! Have these characters been kept in this facility all this time?

For new characters, all of your characters were "present" during the very first log, but either injured to the point that they couldn't trail after the first bunch to the safehouse, or killed during the initial crash and resulting fire fight. We'll leave whichever it is up to you, though your character will not remember the circumstances beyond the vague recollections alluded to at the start of this log. For now, all signs point to them being in captivity after that first crash was cleaned up and swept under the rug.

> NEW AMSTERDAM

Eventually, the Displaced will all make it back into the city one way or another. What the newcomers will find is a city that is very much in recovery mode. There was a recent disaster that has left the city badly damaged and killed people in the hundreds of thousands. For their first few days the new characters will be confined to the safehouse (more on that below), but after that they'll be let out to explore the city as they wish.

◉ Relief efforts. Given that the city is still trying to rebuild and will be for some time, many of the Displaced have already thrown themselves into helping, whether through their normal jobs or by pitching in with the relief organization called PRESERVE. Everyone can pitch in with delivering supplies, escorting people who've lost their homes to relief centers, furnishing and repairing shelters, and so on. Unfortunately, only a few trains are in working order, so getting around is going to be more difficult than it would be normally. Hope you don't mind walking!

◉ Golden-eyed animals. While they're not like the monsters in the research outpost, there will be animals with golden eyes who've somehow found their way into the city. This is noteworthy given that animals are very rarely seen in a megacity. They're not aggressive, and if anything they seem sickly. Some of them look like strange chimeras, like two or three different animals mashed together. Others have too many limbs or eyes. Either way, they will die within a few days of arriving, so it's also possible to stumble on strange corpses scattered around.

◉ All Star game. It's not all doom and gloom, thankfully. The city is trying its best to pull itself up by its bootstraps and carry on despite all the tragedies, which means that the annual soccer All Star Game is still on. Near the sports stadium there will be stalls selling food and merchandise, bands performing, and so on. It's not a full-blown festival the likes of which New Amsterdam is known for, but it is a place to swing by if anyone needs a break.

Please refer to the Setting and Locations posts for more ideas of what the city has to offer, and you can also check out the Aftermath Post from the last event and the July Calendar if you want a better idea of what's going on in New Amsterdam!

> SAFEHOUSE

Located under an abandoned hover-bike garage, access to the safehouse is a hatch in the floor beside a rusted set of metal shelves that used to hold tools and supplies. The immediate area is similarly abandoned: full of rundown and dilapidated warehouses and forgotten businesses, where numerous people squat in hopes of having some stability because they can't afford a place themselves.

◉ The safehouse is a large space with multiple rooms for storage, with the largest of the rooms filled with rows of basic cots set up to sleep a large amount of people. Basic, but outfitted with everything necessary for daily life. A few doors lead to back rooms for storage, medical care, and a large communal bathroom, and past the long rows of cots there is a communal kitchen, fully stocked, and an eating area. Privacy is at a minimum.

◉ New characters will be asked to pick their beds, and provided with a change of (second-hand, mismatched and somewhat threadbare) clothes and basic toiletries.

◉ There is a mini-bar set up in the kitchen. The quality of the alcohol inside is akin to what someone might get from the well, but it's well-stocked.

◉ It can be assumed that new arrivals will be told that any requests or queries can go through El for the time being; Gaby is currently not available.

◉ New characters will be given rudimentary access to the network upon arrival in the safehouse, whether they had their ID set up by Cassius or they still need it set up by El. They will be able to make posts and replies, but their messages will be anonymous and they do not have inboxes yet. El will restrict widespread internet access while ze reviews everyone's preset backgrounds or reviews what's already in place. Once El has set up IDs — or revised/retained Cassius's work, the newbies will be free to go. See the comment below to learn more about this!

◉ New characters will not be allowed to leave the safehouse until NOVEMBER 26 (JULY 21). These 4 days are for them to adjust, learn about the world they've arrived in from their fellows, and for El to speak with them and work on setting up their IDs — or review the ID that was set up by Cassius. We have another option for IDs this log which will be explained in a comment below; it's opt-in!

> FINAL OOC NOTES

Welcome to Meadowlark, newbies! You're now free to post to the network and logs comms. To reiterate, your characters will not be allowed out of the safehouse until NOVEMBER 26 (JULY 21). At that point it's expected they'll have gotten a good idea of their new situation from their fellow characters, and will have discussed their background and had job potentials reviewed with El in order for their false IDs to be set up.

If you would like your character to have a wildly inappropriate background or incredibly unique setup by Cassius, please comment to the background review below! Since Cassius has a different set of accesses and resources available, he'll be able to provide a different path for your character. This background does not need to be accurate to your characters' skill set — in fact, it's more likely that it wouldn't because Cassius is a troll that way. El will try to revise it into working order, but ze can only do so much.

If you have any questions or ideas about how you'd like to get your character involved in the world, please head over to the plot engagement post and drop us a comment! For questions specific to this log, there is a thread below.

Please check out our July calendar rundown for a look at things happening this month, as well as some additional notes from the mods.

As a reminder, AC for new characters accepted in July will be 10 comments across 2-4 threads, while current characters will need to provide the full AC of 20 comments across 2-4 threads. AC will be posted on August 1 at 12 AM UTC and close on August 8 at 12 AM UTC. If you do not reply to AC, you will be considered idled and dropped from the game. We will not post a warning list.

> NAVIGATION

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hey, not at all!

[prompto is here with the cheeriest of dispositions available. he's just about setting down some paper bags with delicious content of the burger variety.]

You're in first, so I guess you get first dibs. You hungry? I got burgers.

[Roxas can't match that level of cheer, but it's not so bad to run into someone who has it, he figures. He moves cautiously into the kitchen, perking up a little at the smell.]

Yeah, I could eat. [Hopefully this guy doesn't hear the gurgle his stomach makes when prompted.] I've never had burgers before.

—wait, you've never had a burger before?

[he knows people come from all sorts of places, but this feels especially heinous of a crime. prompto actually looks shocked at this revelation.]

Have you had bread buns before? And meat between them? —well, whatever passes as meat these days... [quietly, checking in the paper bags to pull out a warm, wrapped burger] Dude, you've totally been missing out! This one's, uh, [checking the label] got cheese and veggies. How's it sound?

[Roxas can remember a time when the shock questioning would have made him squirm, pulled up his frustration over not knowing the things regular people know, and so frequently having to push extra hard to get a straight answer. But it is what it is—he knows he didn't have a normal life before. What's important is he has the time to keep learning things now. Besides, it's not like the reason for his lack of burgers is all that awful, considering.]

I've had sandwiches and stuff. The guys who used to make food for me didn't get very creative. [He thinks of the Dusks, their bodies twitching, and tries to imagine them cooking something more complicated. It's probably for the best they didn't.] And I never learned. I like cheese, though?

[He's never had it like this, hot and fresh. It smells really good, and his stomach growls again.]

No sweat. It's similar to a sandwich.

[he hands over the wrapped burger.]

Maybe it'll become your new favorite. I like them a lot, but I've stopped eating them so often. Just as a special treat, y'know.

[additionally, he grabs some fries from inside the bag, hands them over.]

It's a combo. You want an energy drink or blueberry sparkle for a drink?

[Bread, bread, stuff between it. Looks like a sandwich to Roxas. A roundwich. He lifts the burger as he unwraps it, taking a look at the middle part before glancing back up.]

That doesn't make sense. Why wouldn't you eat them all the time if you like them?

[This boy has eaten one (1) flavor of ice cream every day of his life that he was able to do so.]

Uh—the blueberry. I'm not tired right now.

It tastes better if I pace myself.

[prompto smiles the second the other guy glances back up at him.]

Besides, if I can share it with someone else, instead of eating alone, all the better.

[he means it in the sense that it's nice to eat out with people. he hands over the blueberry sparkle, motioning towards the counter, expectant for the other's reaction on eating a burger.]

Tell me what you think!

[What a strange concept.]

That part makes sense.

[Kind of like eating ice cream with friends. Roxas a sip of the drink and his eyebrows go right up.]

Whoa, it's really fizzy. [He wrinkles his nose and sniffs.] But good, too.

Yeah, it's amazing, huh?

[he can't help laughing lightly at the reaction. it's a clear one of surprise, but also one that shows there's some delight in it.]

[he takes out a burger and jumps up on the counter, swinging his legs as he unwraps it. he's in company, right? he can totally allow himself to have one.]

C'mon, try the burger. It's not actual meat, but it's close enough to the taste of it.

[Okay, so this world has at least one thing going for him. He takes another sip before griping the burger in both hands and taking a big bite. Oh. Oh wow.]

This is great!

[He is officially A Fan.]

[prompto grins.]

Isn't it?

[he takes a bit into his own burger, munching on the bready goodness and tugging a whole tomato slice into his mouth as it refuses to pull away.]

Mm— hm! [wiping his mouth with the back of his hand—he's totally cool, okay—he waits until he's chewed and swallowed before speaking again.] Can't believe you've never had it before! It's pretty great and, wait for it, there's a bunch of different flavors and combinations, too.

[Roxas doesn't mind waiting. Gives him a little more time to eat more of his own burger.]

I guess I never knew the right people before.

[Had any of the Organization ever cooked? He can't remember. It hadn't seemed important at the time.]

Maybe this world's better than I thought.

It's not too bad.

[he snickers, reaches over to lightly punch the other blond on the shoulder—except it doesn't really land and he almost tips over the counter. he recovers his balance, though! falling to his feet instead and getting red(der—this sunburn) in the face from trying not to laugh.]

I'm Prompto, by the way!

[He's a little alarmed for a moment, tensing in case he needs to jump up to catch Prompto from falling on his face, but relaxes after a second.]

I'm Roxas. [He takes another bite.] You been here long?

Cool name.

[don't mind him, picking at the pickles in the burger—] I've been here since August, so that's... four months, almost five. Feels a lot longer than that though, for sure.

I guess if you've got any questions, you can try me for answers.

Edited 2019-07-18 22:45 (UTC)

[He's surprised to hear that, and then he smiles—it's kind of nice to hear, even if his name came from jumbling up Sora's and adding an extra letter.]

Five months is pretty long.

[Maybe not to everyone, he knows. But it was almost half of the life that he could call his own.]

I've got a lot of questions, but I doubt you could answer most of them. A couple people I know have been here longer than me and they couldn't.

[at that, prompto sets the burger down on the counter and crosses his arms. he knows that he doesn't know everything, so there's no offense taken from the statement. however, he looks a little dopey as he says—]

What, you're saying I don't know about the best arcades in the city? Or where to go if you want the coolest trading cards for the hottest video game around? Not to mention, I wouldn't know about the cheapest store with quality clothes?

[—eyebrows wiggling]

Dude. My feelings are officially hurt.

[All right, when he puts it like that, maybe there are some useful things he could tell Roxas.]

That does sound all right. I just never thought about that stuff. More like—[He makes a vague gesture with one hand, hanging on to the burger with the other.] How did we get here, why can't we use our powers, what happened to our friends. That kind of thing.

Yeah— those are a bit harder to come up with a real explanation for.

[he half shrugs, leaning back against the counter and linking his feet at the ankles. how many times has he been in this very same kitchen, providing a similar sort of story and explanation to others that arrived after him?]

[and yet, despite the months, his answer doesn't change much.]

Does it help to know that we're trying to figure out all that, and more?

A little.

[This time he's not alone in wanting to know things, and maybe that'll make it easier and faster to actually get answers. Still, it's frustrating, and more than a little disorienting.]

This isn't the first time I've been left in the dark about things. It's just—I thought I was done with that. Turns out I just get a new set of questions.

Small mercies in that we're all in the dark together, right?

It's good that we got thinkers with questions, though. Sometimes a new perspective is just what we need in order to get back on the right track. [smiling, he finishes chomping down his burger] Your mind will be blown when you get to see the city once you're allowed outta here. It's going through some massive repairs right now, but it's still like nothing else you've seen, I'd bet.

I don't know about that. I've seen a lot of things—been to a lot of worlds before this one.

[And many of them were incredibly different from each other, so Prompto might be right. This might be new and amazing. But it's going to have to be really cool to impress him.]

What I've seen so far hasn't been that great, but I guess not everywhere here is like the hospital full of monsters.

—that was brand new, to be honest.

You've been the only ones lucky enough to have a strange sponsor for your arrival. That is, whoever ran that place. Pretty weird, huh? Kinda gross, too.

[hmmmm]

But, I promise that there definitely none of that here within the walls of the city.

Yeah, that's the kind of luck I usually have.

[He smirks for a moment, then shakes his head. It's gotten better lately, of course...and then worse again, but he's still here, isn't he?]

How come they don't want us to go out and see the city for a few days?

That question I can totally answer. Don't stop eating, dude! Your stomach will thank you.

[grinning, he pushes away from the counter and starts putting away the other things he brought from the outside, making sure everything's pointedly available for anyone else.]

Everything in this place runs on a neural implant that we got on our heads now. It sucks to think someone cut us open and put that stuff inside, but hey, we need to survive. In my world, you know who you are cuz you'd have a card with your information and that would be registered officially with the government.

Here? Same thing applies, except the card is in our brains and the internet is the database that keeps on giving! [no idea that roxas might not understand some of these concepts] So, right now, you don't really got an ID to say who you are, and people will immediately notice. And that's really weird, y'know? So, while El works on setting you guys up with a new ID and not making it look suspicious that there's suddenly a couple new names on the database, you all gotta sit tight and wait.

That's how I think it works, anyway. El hasn't really given us much of a crash course on it.

—beats being treated suspiciously and probably locked up for good over not having any identification measure on our persons, huh?

ARRIVAL LOG 012

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